This weekend one of the biggest music festivals in the world was held in California- the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The famous Coachella stage is shared with some of the biggest artists of this generation. This Saturday around 11:05 p.m. Pacific Time the stage introduced Beyonce.
Beyonce was the first black woman to headline Coachella, which is shocking because it is 2018. She made an effort to show her black roots and created a performance that was more than just music- it also revolved around culture.
She was supposed to perform at the 2017 Coachella but due to her pregnancy she had to back out and her performance was replaced with Lady GaGa. Since she had a year to prepare she certainly took all that time to produce one of the best performances of her career and one of the best performances on the Coachella stage.
Check out her opening here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guf1L6HmeOc
She even brought out Destiny’s Child:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7NfdCEEpqM
She also brought out her sister on stage to dance with her. She also brought out her husband Jay-Z. Overall this performance was amazing and touched on every stage of her career.
Fans named the performance, “Beychella,” combing Coachella and of course her name. “Beychella” will certainly go down in the books.
Jon Caramanica, a New York Times music reviewer stated,
And this is why:
She managed to pay homage to her roots of the black South while also incorporating her influence in American pop. She performed gracefully and powerfully, displaying black excellence to an audience that has ties to racial ignorance.
The performance almost felt like the SuperBowl with numerous light shows, fireworks and a large number of background dancers. With her dazzling black crown punctuated by pops of gold- she was the queen of the night.
Not only was she able to show her black southern roots, she sang verses of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black National Anthem. In a time of such political corruption, this is really what the crowd needed. She also included references to the big names of the civil rights movement. From Nina Simone to Malcolm X and Chimamanda Adichie- she really turned this performance into a landmark of her career. Malcolm X’s quote, “the most disrespected woman in America is the black woman” was broadcast all throughout the crowd.
Even though she is famous, she is still in touch with her black identity that most singers in her position ignore due to their success- for example, Michael Jackson.
She turned her performance into a show of resilience, black culture and power. She has cemented her name in the industry and has no plan on silencing her voice. This was one of the best performances of all time and one of the most moving performances to happen on the Coachella stage. I wonder how she is going to top this. Her voice will never be silenced and injustice will continue to happen unless powerful people in the industry speak up about it.
